Working Families Party Endorses Nixon, NYCHA Chair Resigns

Local News

• Shola Olatoye, chairwoman of NYCHA, is set to resign at the end of this month. Her departure follows months of controversy with the Housing Authority over various issues including lead paint inspections and heating problems. De Blasio has chosen Stanley Brezenoff, who led NYC’s Health and Hospitals Corporation under Mayor Ed Koch, to serve as interim head of NYCHA.
• The City Council budget proposal includes $212 million for half-price MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers.
• The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics has revealed a meeting between Mayor De Blasio and a lobbyist from September 2015, which was not listed on either the Mayor’s public schedule or his list of interactions with lobbyists, after the lobbyist raised $100,000 for the Mayor.
• Governor Cuomo was “mercilessly jeered” by protestors as he entered a fundraiser hosted by the State Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference this past Thursday, just eight days after claiming to have brokered a deal for the IDC to disband and rejoin mainline Democrats.
• A New York judge has suspended the release of Herman Bell, whose parole decision was highly contested by police unions, after a widow of one of the formerly killed policeman filed a lawsuit.
• Construction unions held a major rally targeting real estate developers who are increasingly turning to nonunion contractors to complete large projects.

Elections

• The Working Families Party (WFP) endorsed Cynthia Nixon for Governor and Jumaane Williams for Lieutenant Governor. After a slew of grassroots organizations affiliated with WFP including Make the Road and New York Communities for Change endorsed Nixon, major unions allied with Governor Cuomo announced their departure from WFP, threatening the organization’s finances and structure. Furthermore, Cuomo indicated that he would not even seek the WFP endorsement, and threatened community organizations that endorsed Nixon over him.
• Howie Hawkins officially announced his campaign for Governor on the Green Party line. If Nixon loses the Democratic primary, it is still unclear if she will remain on the WFP line in the general election, but there is a distinct possibility of having two left wing challengers to Cuomo on the ballot in November.
• Brooklyn Congress Members Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nydia Velazquez each implied their support for Zellnor Myrie’s challenge to now-former IDC member Jesse Hamilton in the District 20 (Central Brooklyn) State Senate seat. Meanwhile, Hamilton came under fire for apparently running his campaign out of his shady nonprofit’s housing.
• First Lady Chirlane McCray may run for Public Advocate in 2021, the position her husband held before being elected Mayor in 2013. Council Member Brad Lander (District 39, Park Slope) has apparent interest in the City Comptroller race in 2021.
• State Senator Jose Peralta (District 13, Northern Queens) appears to be collaborating with Hiram Monserrate, a former Central Queens power broker who was convicted of domestic abuse and fraud, in an apparent attempt for Peralta to hold onto his seat amidst anti-IDC activism and for Monserrate to return to politics.
• Council Member Justin Brannan (District 43, Bay Ridge) may be planning a run for Council Speaker in 2021.